CLEAN – podcast 27, Tabitha

<p>For additional notes and resources check out Douglas’ <a href="https://www.douglasjacoby.com/clean-podcast-27-tabitha/" target="_blank"><strong>website.</strong></a></p><p><strong>Introductory</strong></p><ul><li>Today’s reanimation is well-known and touching.</li><li>Tabitha will be raised from the dead -- the eighth reanimation in the Bible.</li></ul><p><strong>Scriptural study: Acts 9:36-42 </strong></p><ul><li>Tabitha (or <i>Dorcas</i>, meaning gazelle), seems to have been an energetic and serving Christian sister (9:36). Like Peter, she had both a Semitic and a Greek name. Keep in mind that Greek was the <i>lingua</i> <i>franca</i> of the Mediterranean world, even though many residents were Semites (like the Egyptians and Palestinians).</li><li>Peter was in Lydda, not far from Tabitha, who lived in Joppa (v.38). The distance is a little over 20 km (13 miles), less than a day’s walk.</li><li>The disciples who invited Peter may have hoped he would bring her back from the dead. It wouldn’t be the first time Peter had worked such a miracle (Luke 9:2). Or they may have simply known of their relationship and been confident Peter would want to pay his respects. The text doesn’t tell us what their exact motive was.</li><li>Have you ever wondered why Peter came to her side (v.39)? Yes, he was in the area, but there’s more. Christians must have been dying all the time. (After all, death comes to all, believers and unbelievers alike). Tabitha was evidently a person of some significance, perhaps even a colleague of the great apostle Peter.</li><li>Quite a crowd has gathered (v.39), perhaps similar to the crowd Peter will join in the following chapter when he meets Cornelius in Caesarea.</li><li>Dorcas didn’t consider herself too important to serve others in modest ways – in her case, by making clothing (v.39).</li><li>These garments were tangible items connecting people with their departed benefactor. It’s little things like these that link us, emotionally at least, to our loved ones.</li><li>A smaller circle will wi